Daughter bought a used car and it came with "music" .....had to troubleshoot that system yesterday and had to endure the gross insult and assault on my ears!2x 15" sub-woofers occupy the trunk and blast their way through the backrest of the rear seat. A pair of 6x9" mid-range speakers with coaxial tweeters and a couple dreadful piezos. This thing is driven by a huge and I do mean HUGE power-amp that sports a chrome skull whose eyes light-up red as power indicators. A 4-way electronic crossover manages the splits into that gynormous amp.I managed to sort out the initial problem (a disconnected interconnect), then I decided to tweak the x-over some (found every knob turned to the max) and tossed those piezos as far as I could throw. Got it to "sound much better" (not sure if that's really a possibility) .....but man, I still consider that rig an insult and rape of my auditory passages.But, at the end of the day, she's happy that dad fixed her "music" and I scored a bunch of points!

Just got myself a MiniDSP UMIK-1 and Room EQ Wizard. So, been playing with it and looking at the response graphs from my three primary listening positions (Studio sweetspot, Dining Table and Living Room):Not that I'm really looking to adjust anything at this point, since I really like the sound of it all as is (I just like to be able to quantify stuff).

I'm pretty sure I've heard or read that many tubophiles are of the belief that adding anything solid state into the path of the signal from the source to the speaker detracts from the sonic pleasures of tube sound ...whether it be the preamp or any type of equalization or crossover. Now I've considered using a mini DSP to bi-amp my setup...but I wasn't going to let anyone here know... :-)

Here's a shot of one of my "temporary" Passive Crossovers, it's been "temporary" for nearly 20-years now and has been tweaked and tweaked over the years! ......but it just sounds so damned good! One day it may get rebuilt with some really high quality components (yeah right!)

Dogstar wrote:I'm pretty sure I've heard or read that many tubophiles are of the belief that adding anything solid state into the path of the signal from the source to the speaker detracts from the sonic pleasures of tube sound ...whether it be the preamp or any type of equalization or crossover. Now I've considered using a mini DSP to bi-amp my setup...but I wasn't going to let anyone here know... :-)

I guess I'm safe then - I went with a software approach here, adjusting the digital output of my HTPC before it even gets out of the computer.

Tried the MiniDSP, but it was a PITA to program. It would also lose the programming every now and then. Grrrrr ... Then went with using the "convolution kernel" built into jRiver Media Center and the same curve I'd been using for the MiniDSP - Room EQ Wizard can export that directly to jRiver. Excellent results, easily as good as the MiniDSP, and as easy as pointing the software to the curve file on the hard drive. Set it all up a couple years back with no further tweaks required.

PS - I've ripped my collection (vinyl and all) to digital, but I can use the original source if I'm feeling ambitious, using a parametric EQ. Granted, nowhere near as accurate as what I get from the software solution, but I was able to target the big lumps using the REW printout for satisfactory playback. I just got to remember to turn the PEQ on when needed - and turn it off when not. That can get interesting as most of my problems are at the bottom end, and I end up with double or nothing with a chance of serious boom if I'm not careful.

My subwoofers and their associated amplifiers are solid state, as is the branch of an electronic crossover to feed them. The path to the main speakers is all-tube.

The CD, cassette and tuner sources are transistor; the CD and cassette just about have to be, and FM reception from stations I would listen to is too weak here for any tube tuner I've tried, though a Sherwood S-3000 II was good in mono, and I have not tried a Marantz 10B.

Decided to order a set of Dayton Polyprops to replace the electrolytics in the x-overs ....actually we're trying to fix something that ain't broke! cause it sounds damned good as is!

Will start there, the iron core chokes are operating well below saturation at my audition levels and I very much like the way the system sounds now anyways. But I can certainly justify changing out those old electrolytics now. Even playing for extended periods and loud levels for a recent family gathering here, the old iron-cores held their own very well

Time to make the music system "Smart"!February last year (while recovering from spine surgery ....I just can't stay still for long), I made the entire house and workshop "Smart", using Samsung's SmartThings and Alexa. Ever since, we voice and smartphone control the entire house. There's also time based and geofenced automated house configurations for when we've left or returning to the house, along with motion-sensed lighting for certain rooms, and other pre-programmed automated response routines for lighting, security and energy management.We have not touched a wall-switch in over a year, seriously! ....mostly just shout-outs to Alexa when we want something on or off or the TV channel changed! Yesterday, I realized that I went off on a service call and forgot the music-system including the ST-120 on (not good!). So, the new project on the white-board, is to get the music-system on the home automation network. I am building a Z-wave relay box that will accomplish this and also give me a nice Volts, Current, Power display, along with a latch-out should power fail (manual reset mandatory).Will post some pics here in the upcoming days, although it's really simple.Here are some key components:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XU5MEG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

No more rushing out and forgetting the music system on. My Smart-Switch, Power Monitor and RFI Filter. SmartThings / Alexa has control, I can power On/Off via Local SW, Voice Command, SmartPhone and also powers-down by Geofencing when I am more than 2km away (smart-phone GPS).

Done, and I can detect no sonic difference to the old electrolytics. Glad I did it nonetheless, they'll last and I won't have to worry about them. Will sweep the frequencies tomorrow and see what the spec analyzer has to say compared to the last sweep .........yes, I know it's a mess!

Do you have a schematic of the crossover? Those caps may not make as much of a difference if they’re not in the direct signal path. Plus I’ve used those Dayton caps and while they get the job done, there are more transparent caps out there. Consider Sonicaps in the signal path for a little more air and detail.

Well, they're just typical garden variety, Linkwitz-Riley networks, no specific schematic handy.A little (marginally) tighter bass response maybe? ...but that's soooo purely subjective, and could be just my mood now or the color of the shirt I'm wearing.I love the sound of my system. Thanks, I'm good for now and not going to go chasing something these old 63-year ears can't respond to.